Step 4: A Quick Word or Two About Audacity

Step 5: Now You're Set!

Now you know how to record and enhance home-recorded ocarina music with Audacity. Below, feel free to keep my example recording of some Legend of Zel...

With huzzahs to Nintendo for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, we all still recognize the beautiful elegance of the ocarina music. If you just so happen to be a huge fan of the Legend of Zelda series, as I am, then you probably own or want to own an ocarina. This Instructable will A. help you choose an ocarina off the internet and C. explain how to use the free Audacity audio editing software. You might even learn a little history, too.

Step 1: Requirements

Step 2: The History and Orgins of the Ocarina

Just for the sake of being brief, the ocarina has been incarnated in many cultures across the world. Some cultures believed these 'clay whistles' to have mystical powers within. Ocarinas date back as far as 12,000 years old. It wasn't until Hern�n Cort�s reached the Aztec empire that ocarinas became a popular toy instrument in Europe.

Unfortunately, many generations passed and the ocarina was still a mere toy in the public's eyes, that is, until the 19th Century. Giuseppe Donati (pictured below) , an Italian brick layer in his early years, went on to upgrade the ocarina from toy to professional instrument in the comfort of his workshop (which is still producing ocarinas to this day).

Many years would pass until World War II. It was at this time that most North Americans are introduced to the ocarina as a "morale booster." This, of course, meant mass production and sales to the public via catalog.

More recently, in 1998, Nintendo released the hit classic Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, giving a new generation a fresh look at the strange "new" instrument.